Memories
by dreamswideopen
Summary: One-shots about Percy Jackson & the Olympians, different characters thoughts about things that have happened. Spoilers: The Titan's Curse
1. Nightmares

**Spoilers for Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Titan's Curse**

**So I'm in the middle of reading the Percy Jackson series (which I LOVE by the way) and I simply adored the third one! Aka the one I just finished :)**

**I just started the fourth one but I couldn't get the idea for this story out of my head. I mean, we all know that Percy likes Annabeth and that Annabeth likes Percy, (I know they get together in the end but I'm still confused about, in the third one, if she likes Luke or if she just feels sorry for him, but whatever) they're just too naive to see it. **

**But anyways, I kind of figured that since Percy isn't as strong as Artemis or Annabeth (because he, obviously, doesn't have the spirit of a true huntress) that Annabeth had to be worried about him. It didn't say ANYTHING about what Annabeth thought about what Percy did for****Artemis. They just had that little moment with the grey streaks in their hair.**

**So this is my little one-shot about how Annabeth felt about what happened**

**PS I don't own Percy Jackson & The Olympians**

Nightmares

I cannot remember the last time I had been more afraid for my life. I thought I was going to die there. At times there were moments when I wished for death, so then maybe the pain would leave me.

It was strange, though, how in my darkest moments of despair I swear I could hear your voice. Sometimes it sounded like you were laughing, while other times I just heard you talking. Looking back on it I can't recall the things that you said to me. All I remember is that your voice calmed my nerves and made me pray for rescue even more than I already was.

The thought of never seeing you again filled me with an empty feeling that, at the moment, I couldn't quite describe. But, upon seeing your face again I think I finally began to understand. All along I thought it was you that needed me, when in reality I needed you.

Being home again is bittersweet. I decided to go to San Francisco with my father and stepmother. It isn't so bad, though I miss you terribly. The thought of seeing you again next summer presses me through the day… though it's the nights that are truly horrifying.

During the day it's easy to push aside those horrible memories of the things I saw and experienced because I'm surrounded by the warm embrace of the bright sunlight. But at night, when the darkness encircles me, I get an empty pit in my stomach that fills me with dreadful recollections and fear.

The nightmares are awful and they seem to plague me every single night, showing no mercy. I awake in a panic, thinking I'm back in that frightful place, surrounded by the darkness. Once I see that I'm in my room my nerves begin to settle, but that doesn't fully eliminate the fear lingering in the back of my mind. I have plenty of horrible nightmares which, sadly, I can say I have gotten used to. I have not gotten used to the fear that comes with those nights; no I don't think I'll ever get used to that. But I have gotten used to the nightmares themselves to the point where I almost expect them each and every night.

My nightmares consist of many different events. Sometimes I'm just enclosed in darkness and can't see a thing. Though I know I'm there, and I know I'm alone. Or moments where I'm straining under the weight of the sky; no pain in the world could compare to how it felt to bare that burden. In different dreams sometimes I see you and try to call your name, but can't bring myself to speak. So you keep moving with Thalia and leave me behind. In others the weight is just so unbearable I can't hold it anymore and collapse; I always awake before I'm crushed though. Occasionally I would dream ok Luke. The dream would consist of nothing more or less than him, falling off that cliff. I would run to the edge, peering down to look at him, only to have him staring back into my face with a blank expression on his face and filling eyes; but every time he was laughing. It gives me chills just thinking about it.

I have many nightmares. Though I can honestly say that, _finally_, they are starting to go away. Months after my experience has given me time to cope with that has happened. So the dreams come less and less. Though there is one dream, the one I seem to have the most, that doesn't want to go away; and it's always the worst one. I've dreamed of monsters, falling, failing, darkness, and being terribly and utterly alone; but nothing compares to the dream I have the most.

The dreams that cause me to awake in a cold sweat almost every night consist of none of those horrible memories lingering in my mind. The recurring dream, that I can't seem to get rid of, is simply of Percy, holding the world on his shoulders.

The thought of you bearing the fate of the world on your shoulders causes me to awake in tears every time. With the knowledge that this might be your prophecy, your destiny, I can't help but sob myself back to sleep.

You, Percy, have the weight of the world on your shoulders.

And if I could, I would take it from you.

**So… like it? I was thinking about writing another one-shot about how Percy felt when Thalia called him seaweed brain. Cause I mean… that had to be like a stab in the heart.**

**Let me know what you think!**

**And again, I haven't finished the books yet so I don't know what happens. So if anything I assumed she felt is wrong I apologize.**


	2. Stillness

**To waterwaves27 and Abigail Thalia La Rue thanks so much for reviewing!**

**And to waterwaves27, I'm not really much of a chapter story person, one-shots I just find so much easier :]**

**But idk maybe if, once I finish the books, and I can think of a good idea maybe I'll consider**

**But thanks again for reviewing! I really appreciate it :]**

**Anyways I know I said I was going to write about how Percy felt about what Thalia said; but I think I'll start off with how Thalia felt about what Percy said to her about being a pinecone face**

**Also I'm not exactly sure how many years Thalia was a pine tree, so I'm going to guess six. Because Annabeth was seven when Thalia "died" then thirteen in the sea of monsters, so it's safe to assume she was a tree for roughly six years**

Stillness

I often find myself trying to remember the six years that I was captivated inside that tree. It's strange how I'm upset when my mind won't recall anything; and when I say anything I mean it. Not one thing comes to mind, zilch, nada, nothing. That was six years of my life, wasted. Six years that I should have spent with Annabeth and Luke. Those years with Luke would have made a difference… I just know it.

My dad thinks he was helping me, yeah right. I would have gratefully accepted death rather than be a tree for the rest of my life. Death would have been better than coming back to a world that had moved on without me. So now I'm a teenager who skipped over childhood, not because I chose not to have it, but because it was taken from me. I gave my life up for my friends. I didn't need anyone to take pity on me, especially not my father who has done nothing for me but make my life more difficult.

It surprised me how much what Percy said had gotten to me. I didn't want to admit that it bothered me, but the truth is it did… a lot. Sometimes I have dreams, no nightmares, where I'm back in that god awful tree, only this time I'm aware of it. Seeing everything happen around me and being able to do nothing about it.

If I would have never gotten out of that tree, life would have kept moving on without me. Until, eventually, no one would even remember or even care. Sometimes I'll stand so still I worry I've turned back into that pine tree, that my brief taste of freedom was just some cruel joke. But then I'll look down to see my feet and hands, a wave of relief washes over me but it's still not enough.

I just want everyone to forget, including myself, that I was ever a part of that tree. I never want to be pinecone face again. I never want to close my eyes and wake up to see that years have passed in what seemed like a second to me. I don't remember being inside that tree, but it still gives me nightmares. At night I'm afraid to close my eyes, afraid I'll never open them again.

Percy can't comprehend what it's like to come back to a world where everyone has moved on but you; to come back and expect everything to be the way you left it.

He just doesn't understand.

**Review if you liked it!**

**Next up: how Percy felt when Thalia called him seaweed brain**


	3. Memories

**Thanks for the reviews guys! It just makes my day to know that people are reading and enjoying my stories! :]**

**Ok so this one is about how Percy felt when Thalia called him seaweed brain. Enjoy!**

Memories

"You want some, Seaweed Brain?"

For a split second I didn't know how to react. Then, as fast as that moment came, it was gone and replaced by undeniable rage. I can't recall a time I had ever been so angry. How dare she call me that? She knew that's what Annabeth calls me. Did she even care that Annabeth was gone? Did it even bother her that we didn't know if she would be coming back? I had never wanted to fight someone more in my life, never wanted to _hurt_ someone more than I did at that moment. The anger I felt when Ares, the God of war, was around paled in comparison to this.

Thalia seemed angrier about losing the game then she did about the fact that Annabeth wasn't here. How could Thalia just continue on like nothing had happened? More importantly, how could I? It just occurred to me at that moment while Thalia and I faced each other like we were in a duel to the death, that I hadn't done anything to get Annabeth back. Why wasn't I busting down doors searching for her? Why was I sitting around like a scared little boy waiting for someone to tell me what to do? I couldn't help but think that if it had been me, Annabeth would already have been halfway around the world searching for me.

I had failed her. I could have saved her. But I didn't. Now I wasn't doing a thing to rescue her. Since when did I actually start listening to what people told me to do?

I had to do something. I had to find her, had to hear her voice one more time. But at that moment I couldn't see anything beyond my irritation at Thalia. She doesn't understand. I had been friends with Annabeth for over two years while Thalia was that stupid tree. I listened to Annabeth when she needed someone to talk to. I listened to her talk about Thalia. How she was so brave and so strong. Well, where was the big, strong, and brave Thalia when Annabeth was falling off that cliff? Annabeth looked up to her, and Thalia had let her down… _I_ had let her down.

All at once my thoughts were brought back to that dream. Annabeth was in trouble. She had run to Luke's aid only to have him leave her. He left her there, crying out for help against whatever was hurting her. Luke hadn't helped her, Thalia hadn't, and I hadn't. She was alone, terribly and utterly alone with no one to help her.

This wasn't about Thalia anymore, I'm not even sure if it ever was. I was angry, and I needed to do something about it. I was angry at Thalia for not caring, at Luke for being heartless. But, more importantly, I was angry at myself for losing Annabeth. If… no, _when_ I find her, I promise I'll never lose her again.

Raising Riptide with the intention of inflicting pain, I glared at Thalia with hatred I had never felt before.

"Bring it on, Pinecone face!"

**I wasn't planning on continuing this once I was finished with these three (actually at first it was just going to be the one-shot about Annabeth) but now that I've finished The Battle of the Labyrinth, I just can't! There are so many more one-shots I want to write after I finish this book. So next up I'm thinking will be something from the Labyrinth.**

**Thanks again for the reviews!**


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